BEYOND BIOMIMICRY
by Kate Reed
One of the great challenges of the 21st century is to merge human and computers in a healthy way, as computers become wearable, and therefore inescapable.
Today’s wearables, guided by science fiction, are chrome-plated, covered in screens, interchangeable and impersonal, and function with the idea of leaving this planet, and it’s ecology, behind and moving on to the next.
Beyond Biomimicry is a call to nature, to bring her with us, and ask for her help in our human design process, in hopes of creating a more sustainable, equitable future in our increasingly technology driven world. This collection creates wearables using parametric design to emulate natural growth patterns that are then simulated, captured and 3D printed in physical space. Beyond Biomimicry is driven by interspecies collaboration, both computationally and physically to simulate how nature would respond to scenarios of interaction with various parts of the human anatomy. This results in ecologically empowered, unique wearable objects that evolve our thinking for the future of wearable technology.
Beyond Biomimicry uses new growth algorithms to emulate natural practices. Each piece began with growth analysis, to understand the circumstances and parameters in which these natural processes grew. Using Rhino and Grasshopper, the growth algorithm parameters were fine tuned to create honest simulations of the natural growth structures. Each piece was then frozen in time through 3D printing, creating fossils for the future. The 3D prints were then adorned with living creatures, allowing life to grow from the fossils, then adorned on the body to create living habitats.
Beyond Biomimicry was made by listening closely to nature and giving voice and stake in the designs created for the future of our planet. By harnessing the predictability of nature and its growth patterns, interspecies collaborations ensure nature has a place in our collective future.
Kate Reed
Kate Reed is a Boston-based designer building wearable technology that interfaces humans, computers, and the natural world.
Kate built her first wearable when she was 13, before the introduction of the Apple Watch. Since then, she has designed, engineered and built hundreds of wearable computers.
After becoming the first graduate of the MIT-backed NuVu Studio, Kate received two undergraduate degrees, one in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Brown University and the other in Industrial Design & Computational Technology at The Rhode Island School of Design.
Her designs and inventions have been featured at the White House, New York Fashion Week, Museum of Design Atlanta, the Hackaday Superconference, MIT Museum, and more.
Contact info
Email: kate4mayor@gmail.com
Website: https://www.biomimetic.io/
Instagram: @Orangebark
Twitter: @Divinshe
Meander simulates meandering coral growth, referencing the deep sea. This series shows coral growing in places it could never grow in real life – on a human face. Meander explores underwater bioluminescence tactics as camouflage for human countersurveillance.
Sea Sprouts utilizes barnacle growth logic to imagine how barnacles would grow off of the human body. Embryophyte plants were paired with the 3D printed structures to explore collaborations between plants of the sea and land.
Root utilizes mushroom differential growth logic to create household objects, in this case, a shoe that is grown around the human foot.
Crystal Interfaces is an electronic interface grown from conductive crystals that responds to human touch. It magnifies the aggregated structure and vibrations of the crystal and can be dissolved and regrown in new forms when needed, reducing harmful waste.
Molded is a series of jewels generated from slime mold logic. The 3D printed pieces are adorned with living slime mold, which features the natural solution to establishing shortest routes from various points.